Greetings Floor Dealers!

This is the final installment this series. This week we continue with mistakes 10 through 13.

Mistake #10: Failing to Position Yourself as a Trusted Advisor

I want you to get a picture in your mind of a family doctor and next to him a used car salesman. Are you seeing those two pictures in your mind? Now ask yourself this, “who do I trust more?” Most will say the doctor. This is because you know a doctor is looking out for your best interest. They are trusted advisors that you seek out for their advice and expertise. That’s how you want your customers to picture you. Here are some tips for positioning yourself as a trusted advisor:

  • Use testimonials.
  • Educate your prospects and customers.
  • Use a Sales Closer System. (See my previous series, How To Command Margins Of 40-50% Or More.)
  • While you’re in the home, wear shoe covers. Also, inspect their vacuum, spotters, and walk-off mats.
  • Give recommendations for getting the longest life out of their flooring.

Mistake #11: Failing to Market to Customers Who are “Hot”

Buying flooring is an exciting event for your customers. They think about it, dream about it, and talk about. It’s important to have a marketing plan in place to “farm” these hot customers for referrals.

A great way to do this is to send them a series of marketing emails and letters after their product has been ordered and they’re waiting for the installation. In these messages, reiterate the great decision they just made. Remind them of three or four key benefits of working with you.

After the installation, follow up with a visit to their home with a gift basket. Now when you ask for the referrals, you’re much more likely to get them. (In my series, How To Command Margins Of 40-50% Or More I discuss how to implement a referral program. Email me if you’d like a reprint.)

Mistake #12: Failing to Market Continuously

A scuba diver can forget to breathe regularly. In order to remember to breathe, scuba divers are taught to think of ABC—Always Breath Continuously. In marketing, flooring dealers need to think of AMC—Always Market Continuously. Marketing is the oxygen that your business breathes in order to survive. Always have strategies in place that are getting the phone to ring and customers coming in your door. It’s easy to get complacent when you have a lot of business. During the recent recession, dealers have learned that this can change in a very short time.

Mistake #13: Failing to Use Testimonials

Testimonials are a single element that will dramatically increase the response of just about any marketing campaign or strategy. No matter how good you are at explaining the benefits of your service, it will always sound 100 times more convincing coming from someone else, even if you’re 100 times more eloquent. Your customers have seen thousands of advertising messages from businesses, all claiming they are the best, number one in customer satisfaction, highest quality, longest lasting, ad infinitum, ad nausea. They are numb to these kinds of claims. Testimonials are the key for cutting through what they perceive to be mere hype. Use them whenever possible in your marketing. You can increase the effectiveness of just about any ad or website simply by inserting testimonials.

 

To Tons Of Customers!
Jim Augustus Armstrong is The “Coach”

Jim Augustus Armstrong is the President of Flooring Success Systems, a program that equips dealers to double their profits, cut their work hours in half and beat the boxes! Many dealers have totally transformed their businesses and their lives for the better after joining Flooring Success Systems.
See what real, live dealers are saying!